Control access to television services

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method and system for accessing services in a television system. In one implementation, a DHCT presents a user a menu containing a plurality of selectable link representations corresponding to separate services or applications offered by the cable television system. The user navigates the menu with a remote device and selects a desired service by choosing the selectable link representation corresponding to the desired service or application. The DHCT receives the user input, translates the selectable link command into an executable call, and activates the service or application corresponding to the selected link representation from the menu chosen by the user.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/565,931 entitled Navigation Paradigm for Access to TelevisionServices filed May 4, 2000, the disclosure and teachings of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to the field of television systems,and more particularly, to a user interface for accessing services intelevision systems.

BACKGROUND

Historically, television services have been comprised of analogbroadcast audio and video signals. Cable television systems now receivebroadcasts and retransmit them with other programming to users overland-line networks, typically comprising fiber optic cable and/orcoaxial cable. With the recent advent of digital transmissiontechnology, cable television systems are now capable of providing muchmore than the traditional analog broadcast video. In addition, two-wayand advanced one-way communications between a subscriber and a cablesystem headend are now possible.

In implementing enhanced programming, the home communication terminal(“HCT”), otherwise known as the settop box, has become an importantcomputing device for accessing video services and navigating asubscriber through a maze of services available. In addition tosupporting traditional analog broadcast video functionality, digitalHCTs (or “DHCTs”) now also support an increasing number of services thatare not analog, but rather digital; are not basic broadcast, but rathertwo-way communication such as video-on-demand; and are not basic video,such as e-mail or web browsers. These are all in addition to the host ofother television services that are increasingly being demanded byconsumers, examples of which include audio and audio/visual programming,advanced navigation controls, impulse pay-per-view technology, andon-line commerce. In addition to the interactive services, the increasedbandwidth available through a digital television system has made itpossible for a subscriber to have access to hundreds, or even thousands,of channels and/or services. Thus, in order to provide these morepowerful and complex features, the simple conventional channelabstractions need to be extended beyond those that have traditionallybeen provided.

Each HCT or DHCT (collectively hereinafter “DHCT”) is typicallyconnected to a cable or satellite television network. The DHCTsgenerally include hardware and software necessary to provide thefunctionality of the digital television system at the client's site.Preferably, some of the software executed by a DHCT is downloaded and/orupdated via the cable television network. Each DHCT typically includes aprocessor, communication components and memory, and is connected to atelevision or other display device, such as a personal computer. Whilemany conventional DHCTs are stand-alone devices that are externallyconnected to a television, a DHCT and/or its functionality may beintegrated into a television or personal computer, as will beappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Because many separate services may be offered by a single cabletelevision service provider to each individual subscriber, includingtelevision viewing channels as well as other applications, there is aneed for the DHCT to not only be able to provide each service orapplication that the cable television system provider offers but also beable to flexibly control access to services that are denoted as premiumservices. As system operators of cable television systems continue toadd services and applications, a problem exists in both making thesubscriber aware of and also in providing quick access to the newservices and channels. Because of the large number of viewing optionspresented to a subscriber, a problem also exists in providing thesubscriber a quick and efficient method to access the most popular orcommonly viewed services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly described, the preferred embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method and system for accessing services in a televisionsystem. In one implementation, a DHCT presents a subscriber a menucontaining a plurality of selectable link representations correspondingto separate services or applications offered by the cable televisionsystem. The subscriber navigates the menu with a remote device andselects a desired service for viewing by choosing the selectable linkrepresentation corresponding to the desired service or application. TheDHCT receives the user input, translates the selectable link commandinto an executable call, and activates the service or applicationcorresponding to the selected link from the menu chosen by thesubscriber.

Many objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of thefollowing drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale,emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principlesof the present invention. In the drawings, like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cable television system in accordancewith one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a DHCT with components and applicationsshown in various memories with related equipment in accordance with thepreferred embodiment of present invention depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the service guide presented to the user by theDHCT in FIG. 2 upon activation of the service guide application.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the process of presenting the service guidemenu as depicted in FIG. 3 and activating the chosen service orapplication corresponding to the selected link in the service guidemenu.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the service guide presented to the user by theDHCT in FIG. 2 depicting selectable link representations with additionalinformation banners viewable by the user upon moving the cursor to aparticular selectable link representation.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a remote unit with a dedicated key to access theservice guide depicted in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the mappings of services to channels wherein theservice guide in FIG. 3 is mapped to a channel of the channel table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an interactive program guide display thatprovides access to the service guide in FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the service guide in FIG. 3 displayed uponselection of the service guide menu from the interactive program guideof FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an alternative embodiment service guidepresentation for the user upon activating the service guide menu fromthe IPG display in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cable television system 10 including aheadend 11 for receiving television signals, such as satellitetelevision signals, and converting the signals into a format fortransmitting the signals over the system 10. The transmitted signalscan, for example, be radio frequency (RF) signals or optical signals, asshown, transmitted over fiber optic cable 12. When the optical signalsare transmitted by the headend 11, one or more optical nodes 13 areincluded in the system 10 for converting the optical signals to RFsignals that are thereafter routed over other media, such as coaxialcables 14. Taps 15 are provided within the cable system 10 for splittingthe RF signal off, via cables 17, to subscriber equipment such as DHCTs16, cable-ready television sets, video recorders, or computers. Thus,headend 11 is connected through a network 20 to multiple DHCTs 16.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the DHCT 16 and other systemequipment. The DHCT 16 is typically situated within the residence orbusiness of a subscriber. It may be integrated into a device that has adisplay 21, such as a television set, or it may be a stand-alone unitthat couples to an external display 21, such as a display included witha computer or a television, and that processes media transported intelevision signals for presentation or playback to a subscriber (user ofthe DHCT). The DHCT 16 preferably comprises a communications interface22 for receiving the RF signals, which can include media such as video,audio, graphical and data information, from the tap 15 and for providingany reverse information to the tap 15 for transmission back to theheadend 11 (FIG. 1). The DHCT 16 further includes a processor 24 forcontrolling operations of the DHCT 16, including a video output portsuch as an RF output system 28 for driving the display 21, a tunersystem 25 for tuning into a particular television channel to bedisplayed and for sending and receiving data corresponding to varioustypes of media from the headend 11. The tuner system includes in oneimplementation, an out-of-band tuner for bidirectional quadrature phaseshift keying (QPSK) data communication and a quadrature amplitudemodulation (QAM) tuner for receiving television signals. Additionally,DHCT 16 includes a receiver 26 for receiving externally-generatedinformation, such as user inputs or commands for other devices. The DHCT16 may also include one or more wireless or wired communicationinterfaces, also called ports, for receiving and/or transmitting data toother devices. For instance, the DHCT may feature USB (Universal SerialBus), Ethernet (for connection to a computer), EEE-1394 (for connectionto media devices in an entertainment center), serial, and/or parallelports. The user inputs may, for example, be provided by a computer ortransmitter with buttons or keys located either on the exterior of theterminal or by a hand-held remote control device 27 or keyboard thatincludes user-actuated buttons.

In one implementation, a memory portion 29 of the DHCT 16 includes flashmemory 31 and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) 32 for storing theexecutable programs and related data components of various applicationsand modules for execution by the DHCT 16. Both the flash memory 31 andthe DRAM memory 32 are coupled to the processor 24 for storingconfiguration data and operational parameters, such as commands that arerecognized by the processor 24.

Basic functionality of the DHCT 16 is provided by an operating system 33that is contained in flash memory 31. One or more programmed softwareapplications, herein referred to as applications, are executed byutilizing the computing resources in the DHCT 16. The applicationexecutable program stored in flash memory 31 or DRAM memory 32 isexecuted by processor 24 (e.g., a central processing unit or digitalsignal processor) under the auspices of the operating system 33. Datarequired as input by the application program is stored in DRAM memory 32and read by processor 24 from DRAM memory 32 as need be during thecourse of application program execution. Input data may be data storedin DRAM memory 32 by a secondary application or other source, eitherinternal or external to the DHCT 16, or possibly anticipated by theapplication and thus created with the application program at the time itwas generated as a software application program, in which case it isstored in flash memory 31. Data may be received via any of thecommunication ports of the DHCT 16, from the headend 11 via the DHCT'snetwork interface (i.e., the QAM or out-of-band tuners) or as user inputvia receiver 26. A type of input data fulfills and serves the purpose ofparameters as described below. Data generated by application program isstored in DRAM memory 32 by processor 24 during the course ofapplication program execution.

The flash memory 31 also contains a platform library 36. The platformlibrary 36 is a collection of functionality useful to applications, suchas a Timer Manager, Compression Manager, Database Manager, WidgetToolkit, String Managers, and other utilities (not shown). Theseutilities are accessed by applications as necessary so that eachapplication does not have to contain these utilities thus resulting inmemory consumption savings and a consistent user interface.

A Service Application Manager (SAM) provides a model in which the usercan access services available on the system. A service consists of anapplication to run and a parameter, such as data content, specific tothat service. The SAM handles the lifecycle of the applications on thesystem, including the definition, initiation, activation, suspension anddeletion of services they provide and the downloading of the applicationinto the DHCT 16 as necessary. Many services can be defined using thesame application component, with different parameters. The SAM includesa SAM server (not shown) in headend 11 and a SAM client 37 in the DHCT16. The SAM client 37 (hereinafter referred to as SAM 37) is a part ofthe platform 36. As a non-limiting example, an application to tune videoprogramming could be executed with one set of parameters to view HBO anda separate set of parameters to view CNN. Each association of theapplication component (tune video) and one parameter component (HBO orCNN) represent a particular service that has a unique service ID.

An application client is the portion of an application that executes onthe DHCT 16 and provides the application's services to the usertypically through a graphical user interface. Also contained in flashmemory 31 is a navigator application 35 that provides a navigationframework. for the user to access services available on the cablesystem. Examples of the services include, in one implementation,watching television and pay-per-view events, listening to digital music,and an interactive program guide, each of which is controlled throughseparate applications in flash memory 31. The navigator 35 also allowsusers to access various settings of the DHCT 16, including volume,parental control, VCR commands, etc.

Interactive program guide (IPG) 38, Watch TV 42, and pay-per-view (PPV)44 are all resident applications in flash memory 31. The IPG 38 displaysa program guide to the user and populates the guide with program datafor selection. Watch TV 42 enables a user to simply “watch television”while PPV 44 enables viewing of premium television services. Theseapplications, because they are in flash memory 31, are available to theuser and do not need to be downloaded each time the DHCT 16 initializes.

The applications that are stored in the DRAM 32 may be applications thatare loaded when the DHCT 16 initializes or are applications that aredownloaded to the DHCT 16 upon a user-initiated command using an inputdevice such as the remote 27. In this non-limiting example, as shown inFIG. 2, DRAM 32 contains the following application clients (hereinafterreferred to as “application(s)”): a video-on-demand application (VOD)43, an e-mail application 45, a digital music application 47.Additionally, DRAM 32 could also contain a calendar application (notshown) and a calculator application (not shown). It should be obvious toone with ordinary skill in the art that these applications are notlimiting and merely serve as examples for this present embodiment of theinvention.

The applications shown in FIG. 2 and all others provided by the cablesystem operator are top level software entities on the network forproviding services to the user. In one implementation, all applicationsexecuting on the DHCT 16 work with the navigator 35 by abiding byseveral guidelines. First, an application must utilize and implement theSAM 37 for provisioning, activation, and suspension of services. Second,an application must share DHCT 16 resources with other applications andabide by the resource management policies of the SAM 37, the operatingsystem 33, and the DHCT 16. Third, an application must handle allsituations where resources are unavailable without navigator 35intervention. Fourth, when an application loses service authorizationwhile providing a service, an application should suspend the servicegracefully. The navigator 35 will reactivate an individual serviceapplication when it later becomes authorized. Finally, an applicationmust be configured so it does not respond to input commands reserved forthe navigator. For instance, as a non-limiting example, when user inputcommands are entered via a wireless remote control device or keyboard,the application must be configured so it does not have access to certainuser input keys that are reserved by the navigator 35 (i.e., power,channel +/−, volume +/−, etc.). However, without any limitations to theaforementioned, in certain circumstances certain applications during thecourse of program execution may reach a machine-state in which inputkeys that would ordinarily be reserved may be employed for input by theapplication but only during that particular machine-state. For instance,an application may display a user interface that specifically requestsinput or selection from the user in which one or more of the reservedkeys are used momentarily during that machine-state.

Other forms of entering input commands, such as voice-activated commandsin a DHCT 16 with an input communication port that receives signals froma wired or wireless microphone and circuitry to process and comparedigitized speech signals, would be subject to similar configuration sothat DHCT 16 does not respond to input commands reserved for thenavigator 35. In this alternate embodiment, the audio input port (notshown) in the DHCT 16 is a single receiver device. Additionally, theDHCT 16 has digital signal processing capability that implements asubtraction filter to effect subtraction of the audio generated by theDHCT 16 from the speech signal received from the user.

Another application shown in FIG. 2 that is contained in DRAM 32 is theservice guide application client 39 (hereinafter referred to as “serviceguide 39”). The service guide 39 consists of a graphical user interfaceto create a hypertext markup language (HTML) file (or other middlewaremarkup languages such as one created via XML (Extensible MarkupLanguage)). The service guide 39 may be customized remotely by thesystem operator by editing the generated HTML file or by using agraphical HTML editor. The service guide 39 uses an HTML display engineand parser (not shown) to parse the HTML file and render the serviceguide display to the user. Depending on the embodiment, the HTML enginemay be part of the service guide 39 or extended by the operating system33 or platform 36, or some combination of both. The service guide 39receives input commands generated by a user via an input device, such asa remote control device 27 (FIGS. 2 & 6), and received by an inputcommunication port 26 (FIG. 2) in DHCT 16. A service selection may beeffected by navigating (moving the highlight “cursor”) through theservice guide display by manipulating designated buttons of a wired orwireless remote device or keyboard 27 or electronic mouse (not shown).The selection of a service or entry from the service guide 39 HTMLdisplay invokes HTML commands, which are received by the service guide39 and translated into one or more application executable calls that areexecuted by the navigator 35 and the SAM 37 in activating the desiredservice. Any of a multiplicity of services may be activated through theservice guide 39 and its corresponding interface (discussed below),including any native application to the DHCT 16, any downloadableapplication supported by the cable television provider at the headend11, any Internet web content, or any other information source providedthrough the cable television system 10.

References to the selection of a service or entry from the multiplicityof services and/or entries displayed by the service guide 39 on display21 comprise the process of interactively navigating by moving thehighlight cursor and transmitting input commands to DHCT 16. Theprocessor 24 processes data extracted and/or interpreted from the inputcommands to effect visual cursor position and visual feedback of theuser's selection on the display 21. When the user inputs a selection,the processor 24 invokes communication between internal components inthe DHCT 16, including software components such as the navigator 35 andSAM 37, to activate the selected service. The processor 24 employs themessaging services of the operating system 33 to effect thecommunication between any two or more of the internal components.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the display 50 with the service guide menu 52presented to the user by the DHCT 16 depicted in FIG. 2. With additionalreference to the flowchart 60 shown in FIG. 4, the service guide menu 52is presented upon activation of the service guide 39 (FIG. 2), asdepicted in step 61 and as described above. Upon activation of theservice guide 39, a navigable menu 52 is presented to the user as shownin FIG. 3 and depicted in step 62 as shown in FIG. 4. In thisembodiment, the HTML display includes an identification string 54indicating that the pop-up menu 52 is the service guide. The HTMLdisplay also includes a series of icons and text strings that are eachselectable hyper-text link labels 56 organized in a vertically orientedlist of services for the user to navigate (by moving the cursor) withthe remote device 21. A footer includes a text string and graphicalimage instructing the user how to exit the service guide menu 52.

One of the selectable link labels 56 is highlighted to visually identifythe current cursor position 58 so that the user can enact cursornavigation functionality and move among the selectable link labels 56,as shown in step 64 (FIG. 4). Once the user, via the remote 21 or otherinput device, selects one of the selectable link labels 56, the serviceguide 39 translates the associated HTML hyper-text link destinationinformation for the selected link label 56 to an executable call for thenavigator 35 or the SAM 37, as shown in step 67 (FIG. 4). The SAM 37implements the service request by executing and activating the desiredapplication to provide the service corresponding to the selectedselectable link label 56, as shown in step 69 (FIG. 4).

In the preferred embodiment, the selectable link labels 56 are writtenin a customized version of the middleware markup language HTML. Theselectable link label 56 is only one type of link representation thatmay be displayed to the user by the DHCT 16. Moreover, a link label 56may be displayed as text only, text plus an icon, or an icon only. Theselectable link labels 56 are rendered based upon HTML (or XML)hyperlink definitions. Therefore, the link definitions are comprised ofan anchor <A> to define the start and destination of the hypertext linkdefinition, and the text between the start and an end tag defines thelabel for the link definition. The label can include graphics definedwith IMG or OBJECT elements. One example link definition expressed inHTML includes the following syntax: <A HREF=“tv://destination_service”><IMG SRC=“graphic_icon”>text label</A>. Inthis example, “tv://destination service” is the destination definition(also referred to herein as a destination address, destinationreference, service reference, or universal resource locator (URL)) and“<IMG SRC=“graphic_icon”>text label” is the label definition (alsoreferred to herein as one type of link representation definition orlabel reference). Also in this example, the label definition includes anIMG element and text, both of which will be used to generate visualrepresentations that are selectable by the user. The IMG element furtherdefines the location of the image file, as a URL.

A system operator at the headend 11 uses a service guide server 48 (FIG.2) to configure the service guide display 52 depicted in FIG. 3. Thesystem operator may construct the selectable link labels by writing thecustomized HTML code necessary to construct the service guide menu 52.An alternative embodiment provides a graphical interface in the serviceguide server 48 (FIG. 2) to enable a system operator to graphicallycreate the service guide menu 52 that is implemented by the DHCTs 16.From a multiplicity of services available on the cable system and shownin the graphical interface, the operator chooses and organizes into alist the services to be offered by the service guide 39 for all theDHCTs 16 in the network 20.

In an alternate embodiment, a user customizes his/her service guidedisplay 52 by calling a telephone number that guides the user through aseries of automated voice menus. The user enters account information anda personal identification number received from the cable service companyand uses a brochure as a reference to make selections through anautomated phone menu system.

In another alternate embodiment, the user accesses the Internet througha computer, PC, DHCT 16, or similar device and logs on to a specifiedsecure and encrypted web site facilitated by the cable service companyto select the set of services that the user desires in the service guidedisplay. The user enters account information and a password or personalidentification number to navigate through a set of menus and makecustomized selections that are routed from a secured web site to theservice guide server 48.

In another alternate embodiment, the user configures the service guidemenu 52 similarly in an interactive fashion by navigating through aseries of menus generated by a configuration application (not shown)running in the DHCT 16 and presented on display 21. The user canre-customize his/her service guide preferences in the future by callingthe automated phone menu system, logging on to the specified secure andencrypted web site, or through the configuration application running inthe DHCT 16. Regardless of which method is utilized to create theservice guide menu 52 in the service guide server 48, the information iscommunicated to the service guide client 39 executing on each DHCT 16 inthe network 20 for display to the user.

The service guide 39, in the preferred embodiment, is communicated tothe DHCT 16 when the DHCT 16 initializes as part of a power up sequence,but, in alternative embodiments, the service guide 39 could be aresident application in the DHCT 16 or could be downloaded to the DHCT16 upon command by the user. The service guide client executable 39 isreceived from a broadcast file system (BFS) carousel that continuallybroadcasts it and the service guide HTML file(s) 52 across the network.This BFS system (not shown) provides a mechanism for delivering varioustypes of media or data from a group of servers to a BFS client 41 in theoperating system 33 for each DHCT 16. This data can contain practicallyany type of information. Applications on both the server and the clientcan access the data via the BFS in a similar manner to a file systemfound on disk operating systems. In an alternative embodiment, the HTMLfile(s) are retrieved via HTTP from the service guide server 48.

The service guide menu 52 (FIG. 3), as stated above, is comprised ofmultiple selectable link labels 56 that activate services and are, inthe preferred embodiment, expressed in a customized version of HTML. Inutilizing customized HTML (or XML) to create the service guide menu 52(FIG. 3), several features may be implemented by the service guide 39.For example, the language of the textual display of the service guidemenu 52 may be defined by the system operator by including the followingHTML syntax: <html lang=“language-code”>. The “language-code” variableallows the service guide to be presented in various languages dependingon the language code parameter (i.e., English (“en”), French (“fr”),Spanish (“es”)), etc.

The underlying link definition, or syntax, that comprises the selectablelink labels 56 (FIG. 3) corresponding to the services provided by theDHCT 16 includes identification of the particular services, so that whenone of the link labels 56 is selected by the user, the service guide 39knows which service to activate. The underlying link definition may, forexample, include in the reference a short description of the service.Consequently, the syntax, <A HREF=“tv://service/short_description”>,would reference the target service and the application that provides theservice according to the short description assigned or corresponding tothe target service. Similarly, the SAM service ID or the actual channelassigned to a desired service may also be used to activate a service.The syntax <A HREF=“tv://service/decimal_id”>, where the “decimal_id” is“10,” identifies the SAM service with the service ID that is 10.Additionally, the syntax, <AHREF=“tv://channel/display_channel_number”>, where“display_channel_number” is equal to “3,” activates the service on thereceiver's channel 3.

Examples of services that can be included in the service guide menu 52include, but are not limited to, those provided by the followingapplications: watching TV, listening to digital music, impulsepay-per-view, interactive program guide, DHCT settings, E-mail,video-on-demand, games-on-demand, videophone and/or conferencing, tickertape data services, web browser, home banking, billing, calendar,calculator, context-sensitive help applications that display help textdepending on the current channel service, downloading digital music intoan MP3 device attached to the DHCT, uploading images from a digitalcamera attached to the DHCT, e-commerce, etc. In the preferredembodiment, any service available to the user in the cable system 10 canbe accessed via the service guide menu 52, as configured by the systemoperator and/or in the respective alternate embodiments as configured bythe user to reflect a user's own customization and preferences.

As discussed above, graphical icons and text representing the servicescan be included as part of the selectable link labels 56, as shown in 56a, 56 b, and 56 c. For example, the HTML link definition syntax <AHREF=“tv://service/ipg”><IMG SRC=“bfs://images/ipg_icon.jpg”>What'sOn<A> would be used to create the selectable link representation in 56a. This embodiment is shown in FIG. 3.

An alternative embodiment enables additional information about theselectable link labels to be incorporated in the link definition itselfby specifying a title for the information to be displayed. As anon-limiting example, the link definition <A HREF=“tv://service/wnbc”TITLE=“information about the link”><IMG SRC=“tv://service/logo/215”></A>instructs the service guide 39 that additional information exists forthis service and may be presented to the user in a variety of formatsdepending on the layout of the service guide menu 52. The “TITLE”attribute describes the object specified with the HREF attribute. If theservice guide menu 52 is arranged in a horizontal toolbar format at thebottom of the screen (see FIG. 9), the information referenced by the“TITLE” attribute is displayed in a fixed location immediately above orbelow the row of buttons. Finally, if the service guide menu 52 isarranged in a vertical toolbar format at the left of the screen (asshown in FIG. 5), the “TITLE” information may appear in a window 57 tothe right of each selectable link label 56 centered vertically with thelink label 56.

If, as in one example, the title information for all selections is notalready shown to the user upon initial presentation of the service guidemenu 52, the information display about each selectable link label 56 maybe accessed in several methods. As a non-limiting example, aninformation key on a remote device 27, such as the “INFO” key 72 (FIG.6), may be configured to instruct the service guide application 39 todisplay the information corresponding to a selectable link label 56 asdescribed above. As another non-limiting example, the service guide 39may immediately present the information 57 (FIG; 5) about a selectablelink label 56 after the user moves the-cursor 58 on to the selectablelink label 56 as described above. The presentation of the information 57(FIG.5) may be immediate or after a programmable timed delay set by thesystem operator to insure that the user is interested in the selectablelink label 56 and not merely surfing between the plurality of selectablelink labels 56. If the information is configured to display in a fixedportion of the screen display as described above, the service guide 39may immediately present any available information referenced by theselectable link label 56 when the cursor 58 moves to a new selectablelink label 56.

The underlying link definition for the selectable HTML link label 56 mayadditionally include information regarding activation of the targetservice in a specified screen state and location. As a non-limitingexample, the selectable link definition <AHREF=“tv://channel/32”>NBC</A> uses the full screen in tuning to thechannel that is assigned to the target service. Upon selection of thelink label 56, for example, though not shown, corresponding to the linkdefinition <A HREF=“tv://channel/13”>ABC<A> from the service guide 52(FIG. 3), the service assigned to channel 13 is displayed in the fullscreen, and the service guide 52 and current TV program 59 are removedfrom view. As an additional non-limiting example, the link definition <AHREF=“tv://service/email”>E-mail</A> when activated causes the E-mailservice to overlay on top of the current TV program 59 in full screenmode.

Some applications may be configured so that they are presented to theuser in only a portion and/or relative spatial position of the displaywhile another service or application is presented to the user in anotherlocation of the display 21. For example, a selectable link definitionsuch as <A HREF=“tv://service/email;env=fullScreenObstructed(location)”>E-mail</A> (where location is a set of xmin, ymin, xmax,ymax coordinates) indicates to the service guide 39 that the E-mailservice is to be activated in full screen obstructed mode and that thecurrent TV program 59 is to be shown in a reduced location. A user isable to utilize the E-mail service while the DHCT 16 presents a currentTV program 59 in a reduced screen portion of the display. Similarly, theselectable link label 56 in the service guide 52 may also specifyactivation of the target service in a reduced portion of the screenwhile retaining the current TV program 59 in the remaining portion ofthe display. For instance, a sport ticker tape may be designated to bedisplayed in the bottom of the TV display while a stock ticker tape maybe designated to be displayed on the top. Thus, as a non-limitingexample, the selectable link definition <AHREF=“tv://service/stocks;env=reducedScreen(location)”>Stock Ticker</A>instructs the service guide 39 (FIG. 2) to activate the stock tickerservice with the stock ticker application's screen reduced to aspecified portion of the screen as indicated by the “location”coordinates. The service guide 39 instructs the SAM 37 to activate theticker application overlaid on the current TV program 59 (or anyexisting service on the current channel) when the user chooses this linklabel 56 from the service guide menu 52 (FIG. 3). In this manner, thetarget services may be activated in accordance to the selectable linklabels 56 in the service guide menu 52 as configured by the systemoperator at the headend 11 of the network 20.

As discussed above, it is possible for the service. guide menu 52 toinclude a link label 56 to a specific channel number accessible by theuser. For example, the link definition <A HREF=“tv://channel/13”>ABC<A>can be included in the service guide content. When selected by the user,the service guide instructs the navigator to tune the DHCT to channel 3,thereby activating the service (i.e., ABC) defined for that channel.

The service guide menu 52 is additionally configurable to control thebehavior and presence of the links based on the service authorizationstatus of the DHCT 16. As a non-limiting example, the XML syntax <METAUNAUTHORIZED“display mode”> in the header of the service guidecustomized HTML file, sets the display format of the link according tothe level of authorization for the user. Service authorizationinformation is available to the service guide via the SAM API. If the“display_mode” is “activeIfAlternative,” the link label 56 is selectable(shown active) even if the service is unauthorized as long as analternate unauthorized service is available. Thus, the user may selectthe link label 56 to the target service, but the service guide 39 willactivate the alternative service if the service specified in the serviceguide menu 52 is not authorized. Additional information regardingactivation of alternative services to unauthorized services may be foundin related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/542,484 filed Apr. 3,2000, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. If the“display_mode” is set to “inactive,” links to services that are notauthorized for the DHCT 16 are displayed to the user in a “grayed out”format so that the user may see the link label 56 but may not select thelink label 56 for activation of the underlying target service.Alternatively, unauthorized services may not be displayed at all.Alternatively, unauthorized services are coalesced into a servicecategory such as “Other Purchasable Services” or “Other AvailableServices.”

Either the system operator of the cable television system or the user ofthe DHCT 16 may configure the display status of the link labels 56 withrespect to authorization status of the target service. The systemoperator may designate the display status with respect to serviceauthorization status for a link by a graphical user interface thatgraphically configures the service guide 39 XML/HTML code. The user,through a settings menu (not shown) may configure the service guide menu52 so that the display mode of one or more selectable link labels 56 is“inactive” or “none” so the display of the selectable link label 56conforms to the display modes described above.

The service guide menu 52 is additionally configurable to control thebehavior and presence of the link labels 56 based on the parentalcontrol status of the DHCT as maintained by the navigator 35application. As a non-limiting example, the syntax <METABLOCKED=display_mode”> in the header of the service guide customizedHTML file directs the service guide 39 to set the display format of thelink label 56 according to the level of parental control set by theuser. Service parental control information is available to the serviceguide 39 via the navigator API. If the “display_mode” is “active,” thelink label 56 is selectable (shown active) even if the service isblocked. Thus, the user may select the link label 56 to the targetservice, but the service guide will display a pop-up barker (not shown)indicating that the service is not available because it has been blockedby parental control. If the “display_mode” is set to “inactive,” linksto services that are blocked by parental control are displayed to theuser in a “grayed out” format so that the user may see the link label 56but may not select the link label 56 for activation of the underlyingtarget service. Finally, if the “display_mode” is set to “none,” linksto services that are blocked by parental control are not included in theservice guide menu 52.

Either the system operator of the cable television system or the user ofthe DHCT 16 may configure the display status of link labels 56 withrespect to parental control status of the target service. The systemoperator may designate the display status with respect to serviceblocking status by a graphical user interface that graphicallyconfigures the service guide 39 HTML (or XML) code. More likely, theuser, through a settings menu (not shown), may configure the. serviceguide menu 52 so that the display mode of one or more link labels 56 is“inactive” or “none” so the display of the selectable graphic 56conforms to the display modes described above. Alternatively, the usercan configure the service guide menu 52 by calling the automated phonemenu system, logging on to a specified secure and encrypted web site, ornavigating through a configuration application running in the user'sDHCT 16 as described above.

The service guide 52 may allow configurability by the user so as toinclude one or more favorite links so designated by the user to appearin the service guide menu 52. While the system operator may configureone or more selectable link labels 56 to always be presented in theservice guide menu 52, the system operator may configure the serviceguide menu 52 to display selectable link labels 56 to services chosen bythe user for incorporation in the service guide menu 52. As anon-limiting example, the system operator can include the syntax <AHREF=“tv://favorite/favorite_number”> whereby a user may choose todesignate a frequently watched channel, such as ESPN, to appear on theservice guide menu 52 through a settings display (not shown) so the usercan quickly access the ESPN channel upon activating the service guidemenu 52. The user may designate any channel or service as a favorite forinclusion in the service guide menu 52 for quick access. The user islimited to the number of favorite selectable link labels 56 as permittedby the system operator in configuring the service guide display, asspecified in the “favorite_number” in the non-limiting example.

In an alternative embodiment, multiple favorite entries are allowed inthe service guide menu 52 and the user is allowed to edit and rename theentry specifying a favorite set. Furthermore, any service included in afavorite set can appear in one or more favorite sets as the userdesires.

In an alternative embodiment, selectable link labels 56 may be added tothe service guide menu 52 by the service guide 39 itself for servicesmost frequently activated by the user. The navigator 35 or othersoftware in the DHCT 16 may be configured to tabulate the frequency ofactivation for services channels or applications and include one or moreselectable link labels 56 for the most popular or frequently activatedservices. Thus, as a non-limiting example, the system operator canconfigure the service guide menu 52 to include one or more link labels56 to frequently accessed services by specifying the syntax <AHREF=“tv://frequent/frequent_num”>. If a user frequently utilizes, forexample, a Cyberdeli service (an interactive service supported by theDHCT 16, but not shown, for ordering. delicatessen foods), the serviceguide 39 will include a selectable link label 56 referencing theCyberdeli service in the service guide menu 52. Alternatively, the DHCT16 may present the user the tabulated list of most frequently activatedservices for the user to choose which services to incorporate on thefavorites list.

The display order and the number of most frequently activated servicesby the user may be programmed by the cable operator or alternativelyconfigurable by the user during any of the user configuration sessionsdescribed above. In an alternate embodiment, the set of services mostfrequently activated by the user is displayed in the service guide menu52 in chronological order from top to bottom. Alternatively, thedisplayed chronological order is from bottom to top. In yet anotheralternate embodiment, the finite set of services most frequentlyactivated by the user is displayed in the service guide menu 52 in anorder programmable as a function of both chronology and the amount oftime of use of each service. For instance, a first service that wasfrequented fewer times than a second service within the past few daysmay be displayed with higher precedence in the display order or retainedfor a longer period of time in the set of most frequently activatedservices if the accumulated time usage of the first service issignificantly higher than the second service over the same span of time.

The service guide menu 52 may be configured to additionally display aselectable link label 56 to services or channels in a time-specificmanner. The service guide 39 may be configured to switch as timeprogresses from a first configurable service guide menu presentation toa second configurable service guide menu presentation according to aschedule that specifies the time interval when each of two or morerespective service guide menu presentations is to be active. Two or morefrom a multiplicity of configurable service guide menu presentations areeach configured to be active for one or more intervals of time in arecurring schedule. Only one configurable service guide menu is activeat a time throughout the configurable recurring schedule but a firstconfigurable service guide menu may be active throughout one or moredistinct and non-overlapping time intervals of the configurablerecurring schedule. The recurrence of the schedule is configured to oneof a multiplicity of choices such as a weekly, daily, or a monthlyrecurring schedule.

In one embodiment, the system operator configures a multiplicity oftime-adaptive service guide presentations for each of a multiplicity ofrecurring schedule choices. For instance, the system operator mayconfigure six different arrangements to choose from for users that optfor a time-adaptive service guide on a daily recurring schedule. On theother hand, the system operator may configure more than six differentarrangements to choose from for users that opt for a time-adaptiveservice guide on a weekly recurring schedule.

In another embodiment, in addition to having the choice of selecting oneof a multiplicity of time-adaptive service guides preconfigured by thesystem operator, the user can additionally configure a time-adaptiveservice guide according to the user's preference for a user-selectedrecurring schedule from the set of recurring schedule choices. The usercan enter the user's preferences through an interactive configurationsession in the DHCT 16 or in alternate embodiments by calling theautomated phone menu system or logging on to a specified secure andencrypted web site as described above.

In one embodiment, a time adaptive service guide 39 running a weeklyrecurring schedule may include selectable link labels 56 to, forexample, news and financial programming for one or more specific timeintervals (e.g., 7:30 to 8:00 A.M. and/or 11:00 to 11:30 PM for news;1:00 to 5:00 PM for financial services) during weekdays. Duringweekends, the weekday selectable link labels 56 become inactive.Examples of selectable link labels for weekend days include sportsprogramming (i.e., football on Sundays from 1:00 to 7:00 PM),videos-on-demand (i.e., Saturdays from 8:00 to 11:00 PM), or pizzadelivery. This is accomplished by configuring the service guide server48 to include different HTML files for each day, such that the serviceguide client 39 receives a different set of link labels 56 depending onthe aforementioned time criteria.

A user may access the service guide menu 52 in several ways. FIG. 6 is ablock diagram of a remote unit 27 with a dedicated key to access theservice guide 39. The navigator 35 on the DHCT 16 may be configured toactivate the service guide 39 to present the service guide menu 52whenever the user presses the GUIDE key 71 on remote 27. The user maynavigate the service guide menu 52 by pressing the arrow keys 74 to movethe cursor 58 (FIG. 3) to the desired selectable link label 56 (FIG. 3)in the service guide menu 52. Once the user moves the cursor 58 to thedesired target service or application, the user presses the SEL key 76to select the selectable link label 56 corresponding to that targetservice. If the user desires to exit the service guide menu 52, the DHCT16 may be configured to remove the service guide menu 61 and return tothe current TV program 59 if the user presses the GUIDE key 71 a secondtime or the EXIT key 78. It should be clear to one of ordinary skillthat virtually any key on the remote 27 may be configured to activatethe service guide application 39. It should also be obvious that remote27 could be any type of corded or wireless remote or keyboard or otherinput devices. Other input commands can be received as signals in DHCT16 by alternate means of receiving input, including voice signals andsignals received via a communication port in DHCT 16.

The service guide 39 may also be activated by the user upon entering achannel input corresponding to the service guide service 39, as definedby the system operator. FIG. 7 is a diagram of the mappings of servicesto channels wherein the service guide menu 52 in FIG. 3 is mapped to achannel of the channel table 81. The system operator at the headend 11configures the assignment of services to channels. The channel table 81is a list of all channels in the cable television system, and theservice table 82 is a list of all available services or applicationsprovided by the cable television system. The system operator configuresthe channel line-up by setting the various channels in channel table 81to point 83 to the various service or application in the service table82. A channel in the channel table 81 may point 83 a to the serviceguide service, provided by the service guide application 39, so that theservice guide menu 52 is displayed whenever the user selects thatchannel. Thus, in a non-limiting example, the service guide menu 52 ispresented to the user upon the DHCT 16 receiving a command to displaychannel 1. Consequently, the service guide menu 52 is presented if theuser inputs a channel 1 command or merely scrolls through the channelsand stops on channel 1.

When the service guide service is assigned to a channel, the layout ofthe service guide covers the entire screen, similar to that shown inFIG. 9 and discussed below, without the current channel area. This isdone by configuring the navigator 35 to activate the service guide witha SAM service resource environment of the full screen, and the serviceguide HTML content would be formatted for the entire 640×480 screenresolution of the DHCT.

FIG. 8 is a screen display diagram of an interactive program guide (IPG)display 90 that provides access to the service guide menu 52 in FIG. 3.The IPG display 90 presents current and future viewable programs to theuser in a scrollable format based on channel and time. The user maynavigate the IPG display 90 to select a current program for immediateviewing. The IPG display 90 is a vertically-scrollable list of channelnumbers in a channel portion of the display 91 and a horizontally andvertically scrollable program listing display 93 of program servicescorresponding to the respective channels in the channel portion of thedisplay 91. The user navigates a cursor 95 in the program listingdisplay 93 to select the individual program or service for activation.The service guide menu 52, as shown in FIG. 3, may be activated by theuser in similar fashion by moving the cursor 95 to the service guideprogram listing in the program listing display 93. In this non-limitingexample, the service guide 39 is listed in the channel portion of thedisplay 91 as channel 1, and the service guide menu 52 is activated bymoving the cursor 95 to the service guide listing in the program listingdisplay 93 and selecting the service guide menu 52 with the remote 27.

FIG. 9 is a screen display diagram of another example of the serviceguide menu 52 in a full screen format. Note that the selectable linklabels 56 are arranged in horizontal format with the title informationalready displayed for each selectable link label 56. This is displayedupon selection of the service guide using a key on the remote asdescribed previously. This is done by configuring the navigator 35 toactivate the service guide 39 with a SAM service resource environment ofthe whole screen, and the service guide HTML content would be formattedfor the entire 640×480 screen resolution of the DHCT. The currenttelevision program is displayed in ¼ screen section 55 by-including anOBJECT with the SRC of “tv:” in the HTML content. The user may navigatethe selectable link labels 56 of services 56 in the service guide menu52 in similar fashion as described above.

An example of HTML code necessary to create the service guide 52 in fullscreen obstructed format as shown in FIG. 9 is as follows: <htmllang=”en”> <TABLE BGCOLOR=color TEXT=color HBGCOLOR=color HTEXT=color><TR> <TD COLSPAN=2> <IMG SRC=″logo.jpg″> </TD> <TD COLSPAN=3> <OBJECTSRC=″tv:″> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <A HREF=”tv://channel/901” TITLE=”WATCHTV”> <IMG SRC=”tv://service/logo/233”> </A> </TD> <TD> <AHREF=”tv://channel/1001” TITLE=”PAY-PER-VIEW”> <IMGSRC=”tv://service/logo/278”> </A> </TD> <TD> <A HREF=”tv://service/501”TITLE=”VOD”> <IMG SRC=”tv://service/logo/33”> </A> </TD> <TD> <AHREF=”tv://service/1400;env=fullScreenObstructed ( )” TITLE=”MUSIC”><IMG SRC=”tv://service/logo/299”> </A> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <AHREF=”tv://service/1201” TITLE=”E-MAIL”> <IMGSRC=”tv://service/logo/304”> </A> </TD> <TD> <A HREF=”tv://service/1202”TITLE=”WEB BROWSER”> <IMG SRC=”tv://service/logo/305”> </A> </TD> <TD><A HREF=”tv://service/1203” TITLE=”CYBERDELI”> <IMGSRC=”tv://service/logo/306”> </A> </TD> <TD> <A HREF=”tv://service/1204”TITLE=”SETTINGS”> <IMG SRC=”tv://service/logo/307”> </A> </TD> </TR></TABLE> </html>

Alternatively, the <OBJECT src=“tv”> tag could be removed, and thenavigator 35 could be configured to activate the service guide servicein the fullScreenObstructed mode. This would also cause the currentchannel to be displayed in the specified obstructed rectangle, ratherthan determining the location based on the location of the “tv:” OBJECTin the service guide HTML content.

FIG. 10 is a screen display diagram of an alternative embodiment serviceguide presentation 90 for the user upon activating the service guidemenu 52 from the IPG display 90. In this alternative embodiment, theservice guide menu 52 is overlaid on the IPG display 90 for the user tonavigate the selectable link labels 56. The IPG display 90 is showndimmed by hatching provide emphasis on the service guide menu 52, butthe IPG display 90 could also be dimmed of discolored from its originaldisplay format signify its background position. The user may exit theservice guide menu by depressing the Exit key 78 (FIG. 6) to return tothe IPG display 90. This view is shown to depict that the service guidemenu may be presented to the user in a variety of formats and may beaccessed by the user by a variety of methods.

The service guide 39, which comprises an ordered listing of executableinstructions for implementing logical functions, can be embodied in anycomputer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system,processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch theinstructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or deviceand execute the instructions. In the context of this document, a“computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples (a nonexhaustive list) of the computer-readable mediumwould include the following: an electrical connection (electronic)having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), arandom access memory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM)(magnetic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory) (magnetic), an optical fiber (optical), and a portable compactdisc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that the computer-readablemedium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which theprogram is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, viafor instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium, thencompiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner ifnecessary, and then stored in a computer memory. Furthermore, anyprocess descriptions or blocks in flow charts should be understood asrepresenting modules, segments, or portions of code which include one ormore executable instructions for implementing specific logical functionsor steps in the process, and alternate implementations are includedwithin the scope of the preferred embodiment of the present invention inwhich functions may be executed out of order from that shown ordiscussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order,depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by thosereasonably skilled in the art of the present invention.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent invention, particularly any “preferred embodiments” are merelypossible examples of the implementations, merely set forth for a clearunderstanding of the principles of the invention. Any variations andmodifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of theinvention without departing substantially from the spirit of theprinciples of the invention. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of the disclosure andpresent invention and protected by the following claims.

1. An interface method for providing access to a plurality of servicessupported by a client device according to a service authorization for auser of the client device, comprising the steps of: presenting the usera menu containing a plurality of selectable link representationscorresponding to the plurality of services, wherein the plurality ofselectable link representations are presented in one of a plurality ofdefined display modes based on a service authorization corresponding toeach service of the plurality of services; receiving a user inputdenoting a selected link representation of the plurality of selectablelink representations; and activating a service responsive to receivingthe user input.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the display mode forone or more of the selectable link representations is configurable bythe user.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein a system operator of aserver device coupled to the client device configures the display modefor one or more of the selectable link representations.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the activating step includes activating an alternativeservice responsive to the user not being authorized to receive a servicethat otherwise corresponds to the user input, responsive to analternative service being defined for the otherwise correspondingservice, and responsive to the display mode being set to an activealternative display mode.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thepresenting step includes displaying one or more of the plurality ofselectable link representations in the menu in a grayed-out formatdenoting an unactivatable status responsive to the user not beingauthorized to receive a service that otherwise corresponds to the userinput, and responsive to the display mode being set to an inactivedisplay mode.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting stepomits from the menu one or more of the plurality of selectable linkrepresentations, responsive to the display mode being set to an hiddendisplay mode.